There has been little discussion of urban and metropolitan policy since the White House Urban and Metropolitan Policy Roundtable on July 13, 2009. This event may be remembered more for the crashing teleprompter than anything else (see crashing teleprompter event). Since then, Bill Barnes, Director for Emerging Issues at the National League of Cities wrote a piece for Nation's Cities Weekly entitledObama Urban Policy Ideas Likely to Have Consequences that offers a somewhat optimistic perspective on the Obama Administration's evolving approach to this topic. As Mr. Barnes suggests " . . . thoughtful conversations about where we are headed are surely warranted."